Transferring apparatuses are generally known from the art of egg sorting machines, for instance from the so-called farmpackers as manufactured since 1976 by the Dutch firm of MOBA under the name of MOPACK. More particularly, the invention concerns that part of such a machine where the eggs are transferred from the main conveyor into a packaging device, such as a packaging box or an egg tray, typically referred to as ‘dropset’.
Such an apparatus is also disclosed in EP560458. More particularly, this apparatus is included in a sorting system capable of sorting very large amounts of eggs, up to as many as 120,000 eggs an hour. The portion where the transfer from sorting conveyor to packaging device takes place comprises essentially three heights or levels and consists, in succession, of an upper system of four juxtaposed rows, a second level thereunder, with an endless horizontal buffer conveyor with eleven circulating rows, and thereunder a lower level with one row. These levels are also referred to as ‘receiverset’, ‘bufferset’, and, again, ‘dropset’.
EP1057728 shows a system comparable to the above system, with the buffer units positioned in a vertical frame instead of in a horizontal buffer conveyor.
In EP1310429, in a similar system, for instance as represented in FIG. 6, there are utilized two highest levels with rows, a horizontal conveyor thereunder, and thereunder one delivery row.
In such machines, with which per unit time large quantities of food products, more particularly natural products such as eggs, or also fruit, are sorted, it almost goes without saying that contamination occurs. In the case of eggs, this involves dirt on the shell, but also egg contents due to leakage upon breakage. Such fouling constitutes a source liable to transmit all kinds of germs. For that reason, in this sector, more and more attention is being given to the cleaning of these machines. The most common procedure to date is for these and other parts of the machines to be hosed down with suitable detergents, or for the above-mentioned parts of such rows to be individually disassembled and cleaned.